Impaired Driving Case

DUI Law Case Study

Mr. S was an employee at a luxury car dealership. Late one evening he was returning home when he was stopped by police at a RIDE spot-check. Mr. S cooperated fully with police and blew into the breathalyzer machine as requested. He was found to have a blood-alcohol level measuring 0.10 when the legal limit is 0.08. Mr. S was charged with driving ‘over 80′.

Mr. S was well aware that if he were convicted of a DUI, he would lose his driver’s license for at least one year. He also knew that this would mean the end of his career at the car dealership where his ability to drive was a requirement of the job. Mr. S thought the case was hopeless – after all, the machine couldn’t be wrong, could it?

Mr. S hired Mr. Prutschi, an expert and industry-leading Toronto DUI lawyer. After reviewing in detail Mr. S’s actions on the night in question (including exactly how much he had to drink) Mr. Prutschi hired an expert toxicologist who performed tests based on the information collected by Mr. Prutschi.

At the trial, Mr. Prutschi intended to call his expert to prove that the Mr. S’s blood alcohol was not over the legal limit. However, during examination of the arresting police officer, it became apparent to Mr. Prutschi that the officer had failed to give certain crucial testimony about the grounds for his arrest of Mr. S. At the end of the crown’s case, but before calling the criminal defence expert, Mr. Prutschi brought a motion for dismissal. The motion was granted and the charges were dismissed.